Kevin Pietersen endured a lukewarm return to competitive action but his Delhi Daredevils side still trounced Kolkata Knight Riders by 52 runs in the Champions League Twenty20.

The controversial batsman struck a modest 14 off 18 balls in his first meaningful innings since the England and Wales Cricket Board announced he would be subject to a 'reintegration process' back into the national set-up.

It did not matter, however, with Unmukt Chand plundering 40 off 27 balls as the Daredevils made 160 for eight before early wickets undermined Kolkata's chase in Centurion.

Back at the crease: Kevin Pietersen hit 14 off 18 balls

Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav and Morne Morkel each took two wickets as the Knight Riders finished on 108 for seven – having been three for three at one stage.

There was further concern for Kolkata when Jacques Kallis retired injured and it fell to Manoj Tiwary to top score for the Knight Riders with 33 from 38 balls.

Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag had put on 36 for the first wicket for Delhi, who were put into bat, before the former was bowled for 21 by West Indies' spinner Sunil Narine, allowing Pietersen to make his long-awaited entrance.

Sehwag was then caught behind off Pradeep Sangwan for 22 and Pietersen could not take advantage of being dropped twice when he perished after pulling Brett Lee to Narine at deep midwicket.

That's out: Brett Lee is congratulated after removing Pietersen

Chand and Ross Taylor boosted Delhi with a partnership of 63 for the fourth wicket, but the latter was unlucky to be caught by Rajat Bhatia at deep square leg for 36 off Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Narine returned to stifle Delhi's innings, first skittling Chand before Naman Ojha holed out to Yusuf Pathan at long-off two balls later.

Pawan Negi then top-edged a Kallis bouncer to deep square leg while Ajit Agarkar clipped Balaji – who conceded 61 runs from his four overs – to short third man having made eight.

The Knight Riders needed a strong start in their chase but they lost three wickets in the first seven deliveries.

On the front foot: Pietersen in action in Centurion

Captain Gautam Gambhir lamely chipped
to Pietersen at mid-on off the bowling of Irfan, who also trapped
Manvinder Bisla for one with an inswinging delivery, before Brendon
McCullum cut straight to point off Morkel.

Matters
worsened for the Knight Riders as Kallis had to retire in the same over
after a Morkel delivery cannoned into the veteran batsman's right hand,
while Yadav clean-bowled Yusuf Pathan in the fifth over.

Bhatia
and Tiwary steadied the ship with a partnership of 47 but the run rate
was still steadily climbing before Tiwary was caught and bowled by
Agarkar for 33.

Bhatia
was caught behind while looking to cut off Morkel and Lee missed a full
toss off Yadav to be bowled for 13 as Kolkata came up well short of the
mark.

Australia cruising towards last four after emphatic win over South Africa

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UPDATED:

13:47 GMT, 30 September 2012

Tournament top-scorer Shane Watson again provided a telling contribution as Australia beat South Africa by eight wickets to stay bang on course for an ICC World Twenty20 semi-final.

Watson added 70 runs to Xavier Doherty's three for 20 with the ball as Australia won their second successive Super Eight match at the R Premadasa Stadium, by chasing down the Proteas' 146 for five with 14 balls to spare.

Watson had shared a century opening stand with David Warner in Friday's success against India, but this time lost his first-wicket partner early.

Main man: Shane Watson was in fine form as Australia beat South Africa

It did not faze him, though, as he reached his third half-century in four innings with his second six – over square-leg off Wayne Parnell – to go with six fours from 35 balls.

Doherty had earlier given Australia a wonderful start after they had won the toss.

The slow left-armer had South Africa eight for two in the third over – Richard Levi somehow playing inside the line to be bowled leg-stump for a duck and then Jacques Kallis edging behind to go cheaply too.

It would have been 16 for three had Michael Hussey managed a direct hit from point to run out JP Duminy by yards.

Marching on together: Australia are heading towards the semi-finals

But Watson saw off Hashim Amla with his medium-pace and doubled up with another big wicket – AB de Villiers caught at cover – when he returned for a second spell.

It was therefore only a late flurry from Robin Peterson and Farhaan Behardien, in an unbroken stand of 60, that kept South Africa competitive.

Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn then bowled well with the new ball, and the pressure told on Warner.He responded to three tight overs by making room to hit Morkel but failed to make contact and was bowled middle-stump.

Toil: South Africa struggled to cope with the Australians' batting

Australia did not manage a boundary until Kallis replaced Steyn for the fifth over, and Watson immediately cut him for four.

The destructive opener did not put a foot wrong until he mishit Peterson on 52 but escaped as Parnell could not quite hold a tough catch, diving in from wide long-off.

Watson eventually holed out off Peterson at long-on to end a stand of 99 with Hussey (45no).But South Africa still never came close to getting off the mark in a group currently dominated by the Australians – and Watson in particular.

South Africa were earlier limited to 133 for six after suffering a poor start in Colombo.

They lost Hashim Amla (six), Richard Levi (eight) and Jacques Kallis
(12) as they struggled to 28 for three after six overs, before JP Duminy
and AB de Villiers led a recovery.

Duminy put on 38 for the fourth wicket with Farhaan Behardien (18)
before adding 44 with captain De Villiers to help South Africa into
three figures before both fell in the closing overs.

The Proteas' total looked below par, and Pakistan were quickly making
in-roads into their target as captain Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir
put on a rapid 24 for the first wicket.

Top scorer: JP Duminy hit 48 runs earlier in the day for the Proteas

Key man: Ajmal took the wicket of Richard Levi

However, South Africa hit back in emphatic fashion with three breakthroughs in seven balls.

Paceman Dale Steyn made the first, having Nazir caught behind by De
Villiers for 14, before spinner Robin Peterson struck twice in his first
over, bouncing back from being smashed for six off his opening delivery
by having Hafeez (15) and Nasir Jamshed (nought) stumped.

That was the start of a collapse that saw Pakistan in all sorts of
trouble but, just when it appeared as though South Africa were cruising
to victory, Akmal and Gul combined to dramatic effect.

No English showing for individual titles but Cook and Finn in ODI team of the year

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UPDATED:

16:15 GMT, 14 September 2012

England captain Alastair Cook and fast bowler Steven Finn have been named in the International Cricket Council's ODI team of the year, led by India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Cook won last year's world Test cricketer title, and his Ashes team-mate and fellow batsman Jonathan Trott also took the overall award in 2011 – judged across all formats.

Chilled out: Steven Finn (left) with Australia's David Warner

But when those prizes are handed out again in Colombo on Saturday night, there will be no England players in the running.

Instead, Cook and Finn – who has been a revelation with the white ball in the past 12 months – are England's only representatives in the 2012 roll of honour, other than a nomination for James Anderson in the people's award category.

Congratulations: Alastair Cook has been included in the team

On Friday, Cook was listed in the ODI team of the year in his specialist opening role alongside India's Gautam Gambhir.

Other notable inclusions in a 12-man line-up, which has featured wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni for the past five years, are Australia captain Michael Clarke and Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.

The latter's omission from the shortlist for the cricketer-of-the-year award lists has been poorly received by his compatriots, and Pakistan on Friday issued a press release in which they mention a partial protest boycott of the ceremony.

England take on South Africa at Chester-le-Street in Durham on Saturday afternoon in what is the first contest of a three-match Twenty20 series.

With the World Twenty20 coming up in Sri Lanka later this month, both sides will be looking to gain some momentum in the shortest format of the game before they depart these shores.

England – who are aiming to beat South Africa for the first time in a series this summer having lost 2-0 over three Tests and drawn 2-2 over five one-day internationals – see captain Stuart Broad return, having been rested for the 50-over series.

Also expected to feature for the home side alongside Broad are fellow Twenty20 stalwarts Eoin Morgan and Graeme Swann, while the world class quartet of Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel will feature for the tourists.

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Ready to go: England captain Stuart Broad (left) with his South African counterpart AB De Villiers

The NatWest Series is all square after England finally beat South Africa this summer at the Kia Oval on Friday, and Alastair Cook's men have the chance to take a decisive step towards winning the series at Lord's on Sunday.

Whoever emerges victorious at the home of cricket will know that they cannot be beaten in the series, whatever happens in the final match at Nottingham.

The washout at Cardiff in the first game was followed by a South Africa win in Southampton and then England's triumph in south London.

Cook made no changes to the side that looked so impressive at the Oval, meaning Surrey fast bowler Jade Dernbach kept his place ahead of Tim Bresnan.

England v South Africa: Dernbach and Morgan put smile back on Flower's face

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UPDATED:

20:12 GMT, 31 August 2012

England celebrated their first victory over South Africa this summer
after half-centuries from Eoin Morgan and Jonathan Trott saw them to a
four-wicket win in the third match of the NatWest Series.

Having lost the Test series 2-0 and fallen 1-0 behind after two matches
of the one-day leg, England turned the tide at the Kia Oval courtesy of
Morgan's fluent 73 and a stoic 71 from Trott.

High times: England's Jade Dernbach, right, celebrates with Craig Kieswetter after claiming the wicket of South Africa's Dean Elgar

The bowlers earlier played their part by dismissing the tourists for 211, Ravi Bopara miserly with one wicket for 31 runs in 10 overs and James Anderson polishing off the tail to close with four for 44.

England briefly looked in bother on 64 for three but Trott played the anchor role in a dogged 125-ball innings, while Morgan added the flair with seven fours and two sixes.

Ian Bell wasted no time getting England's chase going but, after crashing three boundaries in Lonwabo Tsotsobe's first over, he was pinned leg before wicket by Dale Steyn.

Big hit: Eoin Morgan scored a quickfire 73

Steady: Jonathan Trott shared a century stand with Morgan

His opening partner Alastair Cook took 18 balls to get off the mark but did so by turning Tsotsobe off his hips for four.
Eleven more came off Steyn's fourth over as Trott arrived at the crease and the hosts reached 45 for one after 10 overs.

Tight lines from Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell saw just 12 runs added in the next five overs.

Cook was particularly sedate and went for a laboured 20 with a tame shot to Robin Peterson.

Bopara then fell for a disputed duck, given caught behind off Morkel.

He immediately reviewed the verdict but the technology was inconclusive and he was forced to depart, albeit reluctantly.

At 69 for three from 20 overs, England had plenty of work to do.

Ouch: Morne Morkel falls on the ball after failing to take a catch…

… and Graeme Smith, right, sees the funny side

Morgan's arrival added much-needed impetus – not to mention boundaries – as he raced past 30 at better than a run-a-ball.

A wide from Dean Elgar took England's target below 100 and Morgan
thrashed the spinner for the first six of the day in the 32nd over.

All the while, Trott was compiling slowly but surely and reached 50 from 86 deliveries.

Morgan's own half-century came off a breezier 54 balls and he overtook his partner with a flowing four over extra-cover.

A second six followed to the same area off Tsotsobe and his seventh four, off Morkel, brought up the century stand.
Morgan's game-changing knock ended with a looping caught-and-bowled to Peterson and 40 still needed.

Craig Kieswetter cleared the ropes once before being run out for 14,
leaving Trott to shepherd England within five runs of victory.

The impressive Parnell accounted for the number three, via the outside
edge, but Samit Patel was on hand to hit the winning boundary.

Questionable: Morgan departs despite Peterson dropping the ball as he went to celebrate catch

South Africa, having won the toss and batted, got off to a promising
start but after reaching 119 for two at the halfway stage they lost
wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out with 3.2 overs remaining.

Hashim Amla, having made a 311 not out on this ground in the Test
series, was quickly into his stride and plundered 11 off James
Anderson's third over.

His partner, Graeme Smith, had 18 of the first 50 runs before he was bowled by Anderson to an ugly stroke.

Cook turned to Bopara and his nagging medium pace soon after and he successfully strangled the scoring.

It was Jade Dernbach who made the key breakthrough, though, swinging a
full delivery past Amla's bat and removing leg stump for 43.

LIVE: England v South Africa – the action on day five of the third Test at Lord's

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UPDATED:

09:47 GMT, 20 August 2012

Stay up to date with all the action on day five of the third Test between England and South Africa with Sportsmail's
unrivalled team. We'll deliver over-by-over coverage as the action
unfolds at Lord's while our brilliant team of writers will update
with their insights from the ground. Email your thoughts to [email protected]

10.47am: Here is what Sportsmail has to offer you today before the start of play at 11am…

Paul Newman's report on day four is here.

Nasser Hussain's view on England's predicament is here.

David Lloyd's alternative take on proceedings in Bumble at the Test is here.

And Lawrence Booth's Match Zone is here.

10.35am: So, this is it then, the outcome of the series and the world's No 1 Test status all comes down to what happens here on the final day of England's summer. The hosts need another 330 runs to win – and win they must if they are to remain at the top of world cricket. It is a very tall order for England, especially the way South Africa bowled last night and, in fact, all series long. It is not impossible though and, what is for sure, it will compelling stuff.

LIVE: England v South Africa – the action on day four of the third Test at Lord's

|

UPDATED:

10:53 GMT, 19 August 2012

Stay up to date with all the action on day four of the third Test between England and South Africa with Sportsmail's
unrivalled team. We'll deliver over-by-over coverage as the action
unfolds at Lord's while our brilliant team of writers will update
with their insights from the ground. Email your thoughts to [email protected]

Broad continues… Amla punches a couple through the covers off the back foot. Amla then clips two through midwicket off his pads. Four from the over.

60th over: South Africa 173-4 (Amla 67, De Villiers 8)

Close! Swann beats Amla's edge with a straight one. Amla then thick-edges a drive to third man for a single. Shot! De Villiers dances down the track and launches Swann through midwicket for a one-bounce four.

59th over: South Africa 168-4 (Amla 66, De Villiers 4)

AB De Villiers the new man in with one ball left in the over. You feel that this is the key partnership – if England let it develop then it could be a matchwinner. Four! Short from Broad and De Villiers pulls fine to get off the mark.

WICKET! Steyn c Taylor b Broad 9

Got him! Steyn gloves one right up in the air and into the grateful hands of Taylor at short leg.

59th over: South Africa 164-3 (Amla 66, Steyn 9)

Stuart Broad replaces Finn at the Pavilion End… Steyn gloves a single down to fine leg.

58th over: South Africa 162-3 (Amla 65, Steyn 8)

Swann comes into the attack. Amla dabs a single through gully. Steyn then thick-edges two runs wide of slip. Steyn comes down the wicket and manages to hack a single to mid on.

57th over: South Africa 158-3 (Amla 64, Steyn 5)

Finn has Amla on strike. He pushes two runs through the covers. Three more are then timed through midwicket. Five from that over… frustration mounting now for England.

56th over: South Africa 153-3 (Amla 59, Steyn 5)

Signs of the pressure getting to Steyn as he has an ugly heave at a short one from Anderson and misses it by a mile. Four! Steyn gets the first boundary of the day, not quite timing a clip through midwicket. An interesting little battle is developing here between Anderson and Steyn.

55th over: South Africa 149-3 (Amla 59, Steyn 1)

Finn is bowling a very sharp little spell here, and he just beats Amla's outside edge with that one. Close! That one reared up and jagged back into Amla and beat his edge by millimetres as he attempted the cut. Exceptional over from Finn. Maiden.

54th over: South Africa 149-3 (Amla 59, Steyn 1)

Amla prods a single into the off side. Steyn was a bit slow out of the blocks but he's home safely despite Bell's direct hit. Steyn does well to sway out of the way of an Anderson bouncer… not enough balls aimed at the stumps this morning. One from the over again.

Nightwatchman: Steyn had to cope with some short-pitched bowling

53rd over: South Africa 148-3 (Amla 58, Steyn 1)

Close! Amla inside edges an attempted drive and the ball just squirts past his leg stump. Amla will keep the strike with a single down to fine leg.

52nd over: South Africa 147-3 (Amla 57, Steyn 1)

Anderson to bowl from the Nursery End. Too short and wide to Steyn and he is able to leave with ease. A no-ball is called as Anderson bounces one too many. Steyn survives the rest.

51st over: South Africa 146-3 (Amla 57, Steyn 1)

Steve Finn will open the bowling – the nightwatchman Steyn is on strike. Ouch! Steyn is wrapped on the gloves by a bouncer and will have to receive a bit of treatment after they manage to scamper a single… A fine delivery from Finn. Just one from the over – a good start from the big quick.

Chin music: Steyn sways away from a bouncer

10.55am: We have a plethora of reading for you to get stuck into today…

First up there is Peter Hayter's report on day three here.

Sportsmail can reveal the content of those infamous KP texts here.

James Anderson lauds the impact of Jonny Bairstow in his exclusive Sportsmail column here.

Patrick Collins ponders the KP saga here.

Peter Hayter reveals that Pietersen is likely to be axed for good here.

And finally, former England skipper Michael Vaughan gives his view on Bairstow here.

10.45am: Good morning everyone and welcome to Sportsmail's live coverage of the fourth day of the third and final Test between England and South Africa from a sun-baked Lord's. South Africa will resume their second innings at 11pm leading by 139 runs with seven wickets still intact.

Nip and tuck: England are right up against it as they search for victory in the final Test

LIVE: England v South Africa – the action on day two of the third Test at Lord's

|

UPDATED:

10:02 GMT, 17 August 2012

Stay up to date with all the action on day two of the third Test between England and South Africa with Sportsmail's
unrivalled team. We'll deliver over-by-over coverage as the action
unfolds at Lord's while our brilliant team of writers will update
with their insights from the ground. Email your thoughts to [email protected]

10.58: Steve Finn will get us underway – he has two balls left to bowl after having his over cut short by a combination of bad light and a power cut last night.

10.55: Continuing the Olympic theme of the first day, when Yohan Blake was the star attraction in the crowd, gold medal winning shooter Peter Wilson rings the bell to signify five minutes until the start of play.

10.50: Some quick reading in the short period before play starts:

Sportsmail columnist and former England captain Nasser Hussain says that Andrew Strauss, now a Test centurion, deserved the success England enjoyed on the first day after a difficult week involving you-know-who.

David 'Bumble' Lloyd says that Jacques Kallis was robbed of his wicket by a blunder from the TV umpire.

10.45am: A very good morning to you, welcome back to a finely poised third Test at Lord's – a crucial Test for England, who must win to save the series against South Africa and prevent the same opposition from overtaking them at the top of the world Test rankings.

England enjoyed a fine first day at the home of cricket, but South Africa rallied well in their lower-middle order to drag themselves back into the game. The hosts need quick wickets and then to bat well today to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

To do that, first the brilliant Jimmy Anderson will need more support than he was given by the other bowlers, and then the batsmen must overcome the exile of Kevin Pietersen and take the attack to South Africa.

Can they do it Watch this space…

England on top: James Anderson celebrates dismissing AB de Villiers on day one of the third Test